Automatic folding fender.



W. J. HIGKEY.

AUTOMATIC FOLDING FENDER. APPLICATION nun 00w. 23,1908.

935,788. Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

ANDREW. a GRAMAM co., PNOYO-LIYHUGRAFHERS. wnsumcmn. n. c.

UNITED sTA'rEs PATENT orric WILLIAM J. IIICKEY, OF RENO, NEVADA.

AUTOMATIC FOLDING FENDER.

Application filed October 23, 1908.

from bounding back and forth in front of the car or other member towhich the fender is applied. 7

The invention further contemplates a car fender which is simple in itsconstruction, will operate in a positive manner to retain any objectwith which it is brought into contact, and which is at all times underthe complete control of the motorman or other person upon the platformof the car.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof andalso to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction and the meansfor effecting the result, reference is to be had to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car fender embodying the invention,the swinging section of the fender being shown in a lowered position infull lines and in an elevated posi tion in dotted lines, Fig. 2 is a topplan view of the fender.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

Specifically describing the present embodiment of the invention, thenumeral 1 designates a vertical or upright frame which is designed to besecured to the front of a car or other member to which the fender isapplied, a rearwardly extending brace member 5 being utilized forretaining the frame rigidly in position.

The fender proper is formed in two sections one of which is fixed whilethe opposite section is movable and mounted to have a swinging motion.The fixed section of the fender comprises the curved ribs 3 to whichtransverse slats 4: are secured,the lower ends of the ribs projectingoutwardly from the vertical frame and being reinforced by Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 5, 1909.

Serial No. 459,255.

braces 2 which extend rearwardly and are secured thereto. The movablesection (3 of the fender is hinged to the lower edge of the fixedsection so as to be swun either outwardly into alinement with the fixedsection or upwardly at an angle thereto. The swinging edge of thismovable section 6 is connected by flexible members such as the chains 7to the top of the fixed section of the fender and under normalconditions the movable section remains in a lowered position with thechains 7 stretched across the fender. The outer edge of the movablesection 6 is provided with an upper set of rollers 8 and a lower set ofrollers S the latter being designed to prevent injury to the fender bycontact with the track or road bed while the former facilitates thepicking up of an object by the fender.

lVit-h this construction it will be obvious that should an object beencountered by the fender it will fall over upon the same and act uponthe flexible members or chains 7 to swing the movable section 6 into asubstantially upright position.

A transversely disposed rock shaft 9 is journaled within bearings 10applied to the end ribs 3 of the fixed section of the fender and theextremities of this rock shaft are provided with crank arms 11 which areconnected by the pitmen 12 to the sides of the movable section 6. A.crank arm 13 also projects upwardly from an intermediate portion of therock shaft 9 and has the extremity thereof connected by a link 14 to thelower end of a lever 15 which is pivot ally mounted at an intermediatepoint in its length upon the platform of the car. The upper end of thislever carries a pawl 16 which normally engages a rack 17 and is designedto be moved away therefrom by means of a foot lever 18 which is pivotedupon the upper end of the main lever 15 and engages an extension 16 atthe pivot end. of the pawl. It will thus be obvious that when themovable section of the fender is swung upwardly as previously described,the rock shaft 9 will be rotated through the medium of the pit-men 12and crank arms 11 and the main lever 15 will be swung about its pivot,the pawl 16 slipping over the rack 17 but cooperating with the same toprevent any backward movement of the main lever and to hold the movablesection 6 of the fender in a raised position. In this manner an objectpicked up by the fender is retained thereon and is prevented from beingagain thrown back in front of the car. lVhen it is desired to releasethe movable section of the fender and permit it to fall again into alowered position, it is merely necessary to press upon the foot leverand draw the pawl away from the rack 17 From the foregoing descriptionit will be apparent that I have provided an improved car fender which iscompletely under the control of the motorman or other. person on thefront of the car and will operate automatically not only to pick up theobject but also to retain it from being thrown back in front of the car.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A car fender comprisingafixed section, a swinging section hinged tothe fixed section, a rock shaft journaled upon the fixed section, and anoperative connection between the rock shaft and swinging section.

A car fender comprising a fixed section, a swinging section hinged tothe fixed section, means for automatically raising the swinging sectionwhen an object is picked up by the fender, a rock shaft upon the fixedsection, connecting means between the rock shaft and swinging section,and means cooperating with the rock shaft for holding the swingingsection in a raised position.

3. A car fender comprising a fixed section, a swinging section hinged tothe fixed section, means for raising the swinging section when an objectis picked up by the fender, a rock shaft upon the fixed section,connecting means between the rock shaft and the swinging section, acrank arm projecting from the rock shaft, a main lever mounted upon thecar, and a link connecting the main lever to-the'crank arm.

4. A car fender comprising a vertical frame positioned at the forwardend of a car, a brace positioned between the lower end of said frame andplatform of said car,

a plurality of curved ribs carried by said f ame and extended forwardlyfrom the lower end thereof, braces positioned between the lower ends ofsaid ribs and the lower end of said frame, a plurality of slatstransversely disposed in spaced relation across said ribs, a movablesection hingedly mounted at the forward end of said ribs, chainsstretched from the outer end of said movable section to the upperextremity of said frame and means carried by said ribs and the carplatform for locking the said movable section in an upward position attimes.

5. A. car fender comprising a vertical frame positioned at the forwardend of a car, ribs forwardly and downwardly extended from said f ame,slats transversely disposed in spaced relation across said ribs, ahinged section carried at the forward end of said ribs, chains forconnecting the upper end of said frame to said hinged section, a shafttransversely journaled beneath said ribs, crank arms carried upon theopposite ends of said shaft, pitmen carried between the free ends ofsaid crank arms and an intermediate point on each side of said hingedsection, a second crank arm upwardly and rearwardly extended from anintermediate point on said shaft, a lever fnlcrumed through the platformof a car, a link disposed between the lower end of said lever and saidsecond crank arm, a segment mounted on the platform ofsaid car adjacentsaid lever, and a pawl carried at the upper end of said lever forengagement with said segment for the purpose of holding said hingedsection in an upward position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. HIGKEY. [Ls] Vitnesses G-naon V. imo, Gno. S. GUEN.

